Abstract

Background: It is important that screening tools for intellectual disability are validated against the diagnostic criteria relating to intellectual and adaptive functioning, as well as childhood onset, but researchers often focus only on intellectual functioning. This brief report aimed to explore the convergent validity of the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Screening Questionnaire (CAIDS-Q) with a measure of adaptive functioning.

Method: Data were obtained from case files of 86 participants who had been referred to child and adolescent mental health or intellectual disability services on CAIDS-Q items and adaptive functioning, as measured by the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System – Second Edition (ABAS-II).

Results: Significant correlations ranging from .52 to .70 were found between the CAIDS-Q and the Conceptual, Practical, and Social domains, and General Adaptive Composite score of the ABAS-II.

Conclusions: This brief report suggests that the CAIDS-Q has good convergent validity with adaptive functioning, as measured by a standardised assessment.